The Prince and the Potter

The Prince and the Potter is a fiction written for a period around the first century. It tells a simple tale of Prince Ananda's journey to awakening. Ananda, a young prince, the first born of a great king, abandons the palace to seek awareness as a monk. As a monk, he learns the essence of the Buddha's teachings which require him to leave the monastery and follow his own path to enlightenment. The prince-turned-monk apprentices himself to a master potter and becomes in turn a craftsman. He marries the potter's daughter Anjali and after the birth of their child returns to the palace. At the end, Anjali leaves the palace for her own awakening. In limpid prose, the author weaves in the essence of the Buddhist doctrine.